US Senators buoyed by UN ban on cloning

Washington D.C., Feb 24, 2005 / 12:00 am (CNA).- United States Senators this week were encouraged by a United Nations declaration, calling on all nations to ban all forms of human cloning. A report in the latest issue of Culture & Cosmos says some insiders see the declaration as a positive step in the effort to pass a total ban on cloning in the United States.

The declaration, passed by the UN's legal committee Feb. 18, calls on member states "to prohibit all forms of human cloning inasmuch as they are incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life."

It came after three years of deadlock between a group of member states that wanted a total ban on cloning and a group that wanted to permit the cloning for research purposes, which would involve the creation and destruction of human embryos. The vote was 71 in favor of a total ban; 35 were opposed; 43 member states abstained.

“I am pleased that a UN committee recently recognized the dignity of human life and recommended that member states enact a comprehensive ban on human cloning,” said Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania) according to Culture & Cosmos. He expressed his commitment to continue working toward legislation that will ban human cloning in the U.S., and “protect the sanctity of human life.”

According to Culture & Cosmos, Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) plans to reintroduce legislation to ban cloning in the Senate in the coming weeks. The bill has been approved in the House of Representatives twice and has the support of President Bush but it stalled both times it reached the Senate.

Supporters of the cloning ban plan to cite the declaration as proof that allowing human cloning is really being out of touch with the international community.